ENERGY CEOs UNPLUGGED

ENERGY CEOs UNPLUGGED: A Fireside Chat

Join us for an exclusive evening as we bring together top energy leaders for an insightful fireside chat!

Date: Tuesday, September 9th

Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (Registration begins at 5:30 PM)

Location: The Petroleum Club of Houston (1201 Louisiana Street, 35th Floor, Houston, TX)

Hear directly from:

• Trisha Curtis, President & CEO, PetroNerds

• Ron Gusek, CEO, President & Director, Liberty Energy

• Sheldon Burleson, CEO, Rockcliff Energy

• Andrew Novotny, President and CEO, Calpine

The Fireside Chat will kick off promptly at 6:00 PM, followed by an evening of cocktails and delicious hors d’oeuvres until 9:00 PM. This is a prime opportunity to gain unparalleled insights and network with industry peers.

Don't miss this unique event!

Trisha Curtis

President & CEO, PetroNerds, LLC

Trisha Curtis is the President and CEO of PetroNerds, LLC.  She founded the company in 2015 and began working full time at PetroNerds in January 2016.  She was formerly the Director of Research, Upstream and Midstream, at the Energy Policy Research Foundation, Inc. (EPRINC) in Washington, DC.  Since 2010, she has led extensive research efforts and major consulting projects and authored several reports on the North American upstream and midstream markets. 

She was also the Manager for Strategy and Analytics at Anschutz Exploration in Denver, Colorado. At PetroNerds, Ms. Curtis leads research and consulting services.  She is a macroeconomist with an expertise in US shale markets.  She is globally recognized for her knowledge of US shale and has been asked to speak and present at several forums including OPEC in Vienna, Austria, in Bahrain, and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Stanford University, Chatham House, Oxford University, Denver University, and Colorado School of Mines.  She is also the host of The PetroNerds Podcast. 

Ms. Curtis completed her undergraduate work at Regis University in Denver, Colorado where she double majored in Economics and Politics, minored in Criminology, and graduated Summa Cum Laude. She has a Master of Science (MSc) degree from the London School of Economics in International Political Economy and wrote her MSc Dissertation on Chinese National Oil Companies.

Sheldon Burleson

CEO, Rockcliff Energy

Sheldon Burleson is the President and CEO of Rockcliff Energy a privately held oil and gas company in Houston, Texas and backed by Quantum Energy Partners. Sheldon has over 24 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in the U.S. and internationally. He has led teams of 500+ employees and executed over $12B of oil and gas acquisitions and divestitures throughout his career.

Sheldon worked at Chesapeake Energy for 9 years in positions of increasing responsibility including Director of Corporate and Strategic Planning, and as a Vice President leading multiple business units including Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Powder River Basin, and Utica. Prior to Chesapeake, Sheldon was Business Development Manager at Samson Resources. He began his career with ExxonMobil working assignments of increasing responsibility in the US, UK, Norway, and Angola.

Sheldon has served as a Director of The Cash Family Foundation since 2018. Sheldon has been on the Texas Tech Petroleum Industry Advisory Board since 2013, serving as Chairman since 2019. He was inducted into the Texas Tech Academy of Petroleum Engineers in 2019. Sheldon also served on the Board of Directors for the Texas Oil and Gas Association from 2020-2023. He is a member of the Thomas Oilfield Services Advisory Board since 2023.

Sheldon holds a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Tulane University.

Ron Guesk

CEO, President & Director, Liberty Energy

Ron Gusek has served as Liberty’s Chief Executive Officer and board member since February 2025 and President since November 2016, and previously held the VP of Technology and Development role. Over the past 25 years, Ron has garnered extensive oil and gas experience in North America and extended his knowledge of operations through travels to Asia, Russia, and the Middle East. Within Liberty, Ron’s focus includes new technology and innovation, service quality, efficiency, and optimization.

Ron holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta. Ron has also held previous roles at Sanjel Corporation, Zodiac Exploration, and Pinnacle Technologies, with a primary focus on hydraulic fracturing in unconventional reservoirs.

Outside of work, Ron is a husband to Jodi, father to daughters Abbie and Robyn, runner, cyclist, hiker, skier, and occasional adventure racer.

Andrew Novotny

President and CEO, Calpine

Andrew Novotny became Calpine’s Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors in October 2024 and also has served as President of Calpine since May 2023. Mr. Novotny joined Calpine in April 2012 as Vice President of Power Trading. He became Executive Vice President of Commercial Operations in March 2018. Mr. Novotny became Calpine’s Chief Operating Officer in January 2021. 

Before joining Calpine, Mr. Novotny served as Vice President of Financial Gas and Power Trading for the BG Group and Vice President at Duke Energy. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University, graduating magna cum laude with high honors in Economics. He also received a Master of Business Administration from Rice University, where he was named a Jones Scholar.